Contents

Geography1

National parks and monuments2

Ecology3

Cities and towns4

Culture5

Industry6

History7

Transportation8

Air transportation8.1

Marine transportation8.2

See also9

References10

External links11

Geography

Southeast Alaska is the northern terminus of the Inside Passage, a protected waterway of convoluted passages between islands and fjords, beginning in Puget Sound in Washington state. This was an important travel corridor for Tlingit and Haida Native peoples, as well as gold-rush era steamships. In modern times it is an important route for Alaska Marine Highway ferries as well as cruise ships. Southeast Alaska has a land area of 35,138 square miles (91,010 km2) comprising six entire boroughs and three census areas, in addition to the portion of the Yakutat Borough lying east of 141° West longitude. Although it has only 6.14 percent of Alaska's land area, it is larger than the state of Maine, and almost as large as the state of Indiana. The Southeast Alaskan coast is roughly as long as the west coast of Canada. The 2010 census population of Southeast was 71,616 inhabitants, about 45 percent of whom were concentrated in the city of Juneau.

In modern times, southeastern Alaskans can often be identified by their fashion choices, notably Xtratuf boots, and "shirtjacs" (a garment having aspects of both shirt and jacket). [1]

Industry

Major industries in Southeast Alaska include commercial fishing and tourism (primarily the cruise ship industry). Logging has been an important industry in the past, but has been steadily declining with competition from other areas and the closure of the region's major pulp mills.

History

The border between the Canadian province of British Columbia and Alaska is known as the Alaska boundary dispute, where the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom and British Columbia claimed different borderlines at the Alaskan Panhandle. While the British foreign affairs were in favour of support of the Canadian argument, the event resulted in what was thought of as a betrayal, leading to alienation of the British from the new nation of Canada.

Historian Patricia Roppel authored thirteen books and more than 100 articles on the region.[2]

Transportation

Due to the extremely rugged, mountainous nature of Southeastern Alaska, almost all communities (with the exception of Hyder, Skagway, and Haines) have no road connections outside of their locale, so aircraft and boats are the major means of transport. The Alaska Marine Highway passes through this region.

Air transportation

Alaska Airlines is by far the largest air carrier in the region, with Juneau's Juneau International Airport serving as the aerial hub for all of Southeast and Ketchikan's Ketchikan International Airport serving as a secondary hub for southern Southeast Alaska. Alaska's bush airlines and air taxis serve many of the smaller and more isolated communities and villages in the regions. Many communities are accessible by air only by floatplane, as proper runways are often difficult to construct on the steep island slopes.

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